Harakah (English Section)
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (ES) – Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) Terengganu Commissioner Datuk Mustafa Ali noted a group of individuals who came later at a roadblock erected by the police some half a kilometre away from the intended venue of the event on Sept 8, at Batu Buruk in Terengganu.
Mustafa said several of these planted “agents of provocateur” had burned the flag of the rival party UMNO and instigated the crowd, who were prevented from reaching the intended venue for a political event.

“But the people there could allegedly identify these (agents of provocateur) which had instigated the crowd as policemen who were not in uniform,” he said.
Mustafa stressed that provocations and instigations were not practices condoned and inculcated by the party, said the skirmish which resulted in two members of the public getting injured by live ammunition occurred after the public tried to nab these agents of provocateur.
On reported claims by the police that they had acted in such a manner to defend themselves, Mustafa said that was “their version of the story”.
“We have ours,” he said.
Mustafa said “this is the first time the police had used live ammunition in (disrupting) political event” said any used of live ammunition is contrary to “all convention”.
He said police reports had been filed and that the party would be instituting legal proceedings soon.
In a press conference held at the party headquarters here today by a coalition of political party, non-governmental organizations and trade unions calling themselves as BERSIH, he also said a memorandum of protest would be sent to the Inspector General of Police, the state police and the National Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM). A motion had also been submitted to Parliament to debate the incident.
Among those present at the press conference were Democratic Action Party (DAP) Central Executive Member Ronnie Liu, BERSIH steering committee member Syed Azman Syed Ahmad, PAS vice president Mohamad Sabu, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) secretary general Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) pro-tem secretary general S. Arutchelvan and human right group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) executive director Yap Swee Seng.
Syed Azman said BERSIH would go on with its agenda of pressing for a free and fair election in Malaysia by holding an event tomorrow in Seremban. He also called for the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Batu Buruk incident.
Mass demonstration for a free and fair election to be held Nov 10
Syed Azman who is also PAS central committee member, also reiterates BERSIH’s plan to hold a mass demonstration on Nov 10 in Kuala Lumpur to press for a free and fair election.
Abdul Khalid said the action of the police using live ammunition was “most scary” and he said PKR was “offended” that the prime media had continued with the trend to portray the party as being responsible for skirmishes.
Mohamad noted an official reply to a question in Parliament from the government which had acknowledge that any political event from the opposition would be peaceful without provocation from the police.
Arutchelvan said that a SUHAKAM report and the Police Royal Commission of Enquiry had acknowledge the “double standard” in giving out police permit for a public assembly.
ImageRonnie meanwhile condemned deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who seemed to condone the action of the police and described Najib statement in letting the police to use live ammunition as “dangerous”.
He said all photographs in the prime media were “all similar”, and charged that the photos came from a “single source” and that they were “supplied by the authorities”.
Ronnie likened the action of the government to indirectly smeared the opposition of being violence like the tendency of the western media to “portray Palestinian youth throwing rocks at Israelis” without showing how army of the Zionist regime had first instigated violence.
Yap condemns the “tragedy” and noted how live ammunition has now been used to disperse a crowd for the first time ever. -ES